Deck the Halls
by Nalasan
Summary: Little did Nick know that organising a Christmas party for the Warblers staying at Dalton for the holidays would turn out to be so much work - and so much fun. -Niff, Klaine and lots of adorable Warblers-


**A/N This technically takes place during Season 3, but apart from Sebastian's existence and Blaine and Kurt being at McKinley, I'm ignoring nearly everything that has happened so far. And also - please don't try to track down a timeline. I have no idea what happens on which day. Let's just assume it does happen. Somehow.  
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* * *

><p>"<em>I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses." ~ Taylor Caldwell<em>

"_I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year." ~ Charles Dickens_

"_Christmas will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand." ~ Dr. Seuss_

* * *

><p>After everything was over, Nick thought about it for a very, very long time, and then decided that the whole thing was to blame on David in the first place.<p>

It had all started the week before Christmas break. The last Warblers' rehearsal was over, and most of the boys had stayed behind, chatting animatedly about the upcoming holidays and their Christmas plans. Nick had been absorbed in a conversation with Jeff, Thad and David, planning their last movie night in the old year, when David's eyes suddenly narrowed. Nick turned around, and, following David's gaze, spotted Thom and John, who were sitting next to each other on one of the sofas, each wearing the same gloomy, downcast expression. In the midst of all the other happy, excited faces around them, it was painfully obvious that these two were as far from being in the Christmas spirit as anybody could possibly be.

"Oh wow," Thad remarked, leaning around Jeff to glance at the two boys. "What happened to those two?"

"I have no idea," David answered, his brow furrowed, "They seemed fine during rehearsal. Did they say anything to you guys?"

Nick and Thad shook their heads simultaneously, while Jeff hopped off the table he had been previously sitting on.

"One way to find out," he said, and made his way over to the couch, flopping down between the two guys and smiling brightly.

"Thom darling, you look like somebody burned your collection of Oscar Wilde movies and danced around the fire singing _Ding Dong the Witch is Dead_," Jeff said, patting the younger boy's knee, his gaze drifting between Thom and John. "What's with you two?"

Nick, who, like David and Thad, had followed Jeff over to the guys, couldn't help but shake his head at Jeff's blunt approach. Thom didn't bother giving an answer; he was satisfied with just sending a very nasty look Jeff's way. It was John who after a moment said, "We're not going home for Christmas."

"Oh," Thad said, understanding dawning on his face. "You're staying here for the holidays?"

John nodded, fiddling with the hem of his blazer. He was the newest addition to the Warblers, and to Dalton Academy as well. Since his family had just moved to the States a few months ago from Germany, John and his twin brother were still getting used to their new environment. It wasn't the first time they had lived in the States, but apparently, this time the family had moved for good, "My parents need to go back to Germany to sort a few things out, and they didn't want to take Luke and me with them. It's really expensive, and they probably won't have time for us, and all of our relatives are busy as well... not that we have many..." he trailed off, looking up and shrugging when he saw the four boys still looking at him. "So yeah, we're staying here."

"What about you, Thom?" Thad asked. The raven-haired boy shrugged too, careful not to look at anyone directly while answering, "My parents are invited to a conference. They'll be back on the 30th, so I'm going home then."

"They have conferences over _Christmas_?" Jeff asked, his voice incredulous. Thom just shrugged and nodded, "The people my parents hang out with do."

"I'm sorry guys," Nick said, patting John's shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

"Oh, don't be," Thom answered, "We're going to have loads of fun. We and the other four guys that are being stuck here."

"And Mr. Robertson," John added.

"Of course, how could I forget Mr. Robertson," Thom drawled, "Lovely Mr. Robertson, who will undoubtedly take the opportunity to show us the joys of the Spanish grammar – regardless of the fact that none of us are actually in his Spanish class."

He looked up, and was greeted by very pitiful glances from four other Warblers.

"Come on, guys, stop with the pity-party," he said, standing up. "At least I'm going to get some reading done over the holidays. Not like there will many people around to bother me." He thought about his last sentence for a second, before adding, "Come to think about it, I might just really enjoy these holidays."

John nodded in agreement, also rising when he spotted his brother peering into the room, obviously looking for him. "It's not going to be the best Christmas ever, but it'll be alright." He smiled, "At least we're not spending it alone."

He waved a goodbye before he headed to the door, Thom on his heels.

Nick exchanged a thoughtful look with his best friend, before he turned to David. The council-leader stared after the two boys, thoughtfully gnawing on his bottom lip, a determined expression on his face.

That 's how the madness started.

* * *

><p>With Wes gone, David felt very responsible for every single Warblers' well-being, an attitude Nick admired and respected immensely. So when David showed up on Nick's and Jeff's dormstep that evening, he wasn't surprised when the other boy said, "Guys, we need to do something about Thom and John."<p>

"We already thought about that," Jeff said, closing the comic book he had been reading and crawling over to Nick's bed to sit next to his best friend. "But Nick obviously can't invite them over, when he doesn't even know whether he will be celebrating Christmas with his dad or his mum, and my house will be packed with family and neighbours. We thought maybe we could persuade Adrian and Trevor to invite them over, but I don't know if Trevor gets along with Luke, and since the twins are obviously a package deal..."

"I don't think that will work," Nick interrupted. "Thom doesn't have many friends to start with, and I doubt that we can force him to leave Dalton in the first place, being the stubborn jackass that he is..."

"Guys, I'm not talking about magically finding foster families for them," David interrupted. "It's too late for that, and their parents probably already paid the money for them to stay at Dalton."

He sat down next to Nick, causing the brunette boy to briefly worry if the bed could actually hold the weight of the three boys. Last Spring, James' bed had collapsed under the weight of four guys playing Mario Cart on their playstation, and the administration had been terribly upset.

"I was thinking about something else," David said, while Jeff leaned forward and rested his chin on Nick's shoulder, listening intently to David's explanation, "I thought we could throw them a surprise Christmas-party. Not just for them, but for all the other guys who are stuck here over Christmas as well."

Nick could feel Jeff grinning into his shoulder. "I like that," he said. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

* * *

><p>The first step was to inquire who of the Warblers had the time and the energy to put a surprise party together in less than one week.<p>

Fortunately, it didn't take much time to find a few Warblers who were absolutely thrilled by the idea of throwing a party. Nathan, infamous Dalton playboy and acclaimed social magnet, was the first one to assure his help – not just because he loved a good party, but mainly because he had already felt bad seeing his best friend Thom looking at the prospect of spending his holidays at school.

Trent had good-naturedly agreed on helping, happy that they would spend some quality time together before everyone was rushing off into the holidays. David and Thad were on board as well, naturally, even though Thad would be leaving early for his annual family visit to England and therefore could not actually attend the party. David faced another problem – his scholarship application was due two days before New Year's Eve, and right know he was still busy collecting all the letters of recommendation from his teachers. Nick and Jeff assured him that it wouldn't be a problem – they had plenty of time on their hands, and with Nathan and Trent there to help them – what could possibly go wrong?

* * *

><p>It was only when Nick had started to talk about decorations that Nathan looked at him very thoughtfully, saying, "You know, we can't actually do only <em>Christmas<em> decorations."

Nick had looked at the other boy in confusion, while David nodded in agreement, "That is true. After all, we don't actually all celebrate Christmas."

A short discussion revealed that Nick, Jeff and Thad were actually the only ones who celebrated Christmas – Nathan and David celebrated Kwanza, Trent Hanukkah.

"And I know that Cody's family doesn't celebrate either of those holidays," Trent remarked. "We talked about it in Chemistry a few weeks ago – his family celebrates Winter Solstice."

"Come again?" Thad asked.

"Winter Solstice. As atheists they don't believe in the birth of Christ and all that stuff anyways, so they decided to abandon all that commercial madness and celebrate the original holidays all the others were founded on."

"That's actually not as weird as what Thom's family does in December," Nathan said, grinning as he played with the pencil he was holding in his hands.

"Okay, even though I dread your answer – what does Thom's family celebrate?" Jeff asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Well you know that his mum is this obsessed Latin scholar and that his dad and his uncle are professors for English literature?" Nathan asked.

Neither Nick nor Jeff had any idea what Thom's parents did for a living, but taking into consideration that the boy quoted Shakespeare and Byron at every opportunity, that certainly made sense.

"Well," Nathan continued, "They decided that it was pointless to celebrate Christmas in December, because it is scientifically wrong and was only moved to the date to substitute a heathen celebration of which I can't remember the name right now..."

"I just told you, it's called Winter Solstice," Trent said. Nathan merely shrugged, "Anyway, they basically said "back to the roots" and since eight years now they're celebrating Saturnalia, which is some sort of celebration for a roman god whose name I also can't remember right now..."

"Saturn, maybe?" Thad interrupted dryly. David looked positively shocked, "Are you telling me that we have..." everybody watched while David counted in his head, "_five_ different celebrations we need to include in our party?"

"Think of it as a challenge," Nathan said, grinning at the two glaring council members. "It'll be fun."

* * *

><p>The next big step had been to agree on a date – nothing Nick would have anticipated to be a problem. How very mistaken he had been.<p>

At first, they mapped out who of the people invited actually celebrated what: Nick, Jeff, John and Luke were regular Christmas people, David and Nathan celebrated Kwanza, Trent, Peter and James Hanukkah, Cody Winter Solstice and Thom Saturnalia. After considering the schedules of all the boys and determining who had which deadlines to consider before the holidays, it became clear that there was no way that the party could take place during the remaining schooldays. That left them with the task to find a date that didn't collide with the respective family celebrations of the Warblers who organised the party, but was still close enough to the respective holidays to get every student into the Christmas spirit.

After they finally agreed on a day, Nick had the distinctive feeling that whatever political or religious discussion awaited him in his life – he was prepared.

* * *

><p>"Do you think we should call Blaine?" Nick asked, absentmindedly playing with his phone. Jeff, who had just come out of their bathroom and was busy towelling his hair, blinked at his best friend through his blond bangs.<p>

"What?"

"I asked: do you think we should invite Blaine to the party?" Nick asked, sitting up and looking at Jeff questioningly, "I mean, I know he transferred, but he's still our friend, and we haven't seen him in a while, and it's technically not even a Warblers-party, and even if it were, he will always belong to us, in a way..."

"Why do you even need to ask such things?" Jeff rolled his eyes, throwing his towel in Nick's face and retreating to the bathroom to brush his teeth, "And since you're calling anyways, don't forget to invite Kurt too."

Nick threw the wet towel over the heater before dialling Blaine's number. The former lead vocalist answered after the second ring, "Hey Nick, what's up?"

"Not much," Nick answered, grinning at hearing Blaine's cheerful voice. All Warblers had been worried that their leader could be miserable at McKinley, but apparently, Blaine was happy to be where Kurt was. "I just called to check if you're free on Tuesday?"

"Sure, why?"

"Because we're having a Warblers' Christmas party."

"Since when do we have something like that?"

Nick didn't even try to hide his smile at how Blaine still referred to himself as part of the Warblers. It was how Thad had once put it, "You can try to escape it – but Dalton stays within you."

Even though when Thad said those things, they always sounded more like a threat than like a promise.

"Since last Monday. We're still planning, and it's mostly to cheer up the guys, who have to stay at Dalton during the holidays, but quite a number of Warblers are coming and we wanted to invite you too."

"Because we miss you!" Jeff yelled, coming out of the bathroom and walking over to his drawer to get some clothes.

"Jeff says hi," Nick remarked. "So, you're coming?"

"To a Warbler-Christmas-party? Always."

"Well, it's actually more like a Warbler-Christmas-Hanukkah-Kwanza-Solstice-Saturnalia-party, but anyways."

"... should I ask?"

"No, actually you shouldn't. Just come and see for yourself."

Nick looked at Jeff's hand which was holding a piece of paper under his nose, on which Jeff had scribbled in bold letters "NEW OFFICIAL NAME: KWANCHRISNUKASOLLIA-PARTY." He rolled his eyes, mouthing a "NO" at his best friend, who pouted disappointedly.

"Wait," Blaine said suddenly. "Can I bring Kurt?"

Nick grinned, "Actually, that would have been my next question. So: yes please."

"Good." Blaine's voice sounded fainter, like he was no longer speaking in the direction of the phone. "Kurt? Warbler party on Tuesday?"

Nick sighed. He should have known that Blaine's better half was sitting right next to him.

"Nick? Kurt wants to ask you something."

Nick had no time to react before the voice of another former Warbler said, "Hello Nicholas."

"Don't call me that, Kurt," Nick protested. "You always use the same tone my mother uses when she's really pissed about something. Anyways – what's up?"

"I just wanted to inquire whether Mr. Ferret-grin will also be attending the party, because if he is, we most certainly aren't."

"Kurt, I'm sorry, but I have not the slightest idea who you are talking about."

"Is Sebastian coming?"

Nick frowned in confusion, looking at Jeff who just shrugged. Sebastian had made it very clear that he was interested in Blaine, but Nick never would have anticipated that he actually would go as far as to interfere with Kurt's and Blaine's relationship. But if Kurt's pissed voice was any indication, they had guessed wrongly.

"He did mention that he was going skiing in the Swiss Alps over the holidays like a million times during the last weeks, so I highly doubt he would miss that for a lousy Warbler party," Nick said. "Plus, he's already taking off the day after tomorrow, so you will have nothing to worry about."

"Good," Kurt said, his voice still sounding strained. Silence ensued between the boys, before Nick asked softly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know," Kurt said slowly. "I don't want to complain about a member of your group to you..."

"Kurt, you're my friend," Nick interrupted, "And as that, you have older rights than Sebastian does. Besides, it's not like you're going to backstab him without having a reason, is it?"

There was a short moment of silence before Kurt asked, "Meet me tomorrow at the Lima Bean? At four?" Nick grinned, "I'll be there." He winced when he felt a sharp pain in his shin and hastily added, "I mean, _we_ will be there."

Kurt chuckled, "Am I allowed to bring my better half too?"

"Sure," Nick grinned, while Jeff was tugging on his sleeve, saying, "Give me the phone, I want to talk to Blaine too!"

"It's Kurt."

"Even better."

"We're meeting them for coffee tomorrow anyways."

"In which way does that have any relevance to me talking on the phone to either of them?"

"You can talk to both of them tomorrow!"

"But..."

"I am very glad to hear that nothing has changed since I left," Blaine's amused voice came out of the speaker. "We'll have to go now, but I see you guys tomorrow."

There was a click before the dial tone came on, a clear indication that Blaine had hung up on them. Nick looked at Jeff, who was sitting next to him, an unhappy expression on his face.

"You're paying for my coffee tomorrow," Jeff announced, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Nick just shrugged, saying, "Sure. What else is new?"

* * *

><p>"Do you think we should prepare some sort of entertainment program?"<p>

Nick looked up from his dessert at Nathan, who had just sat down on the chair opposite from him, "I'm sorry, what?"

"For the Kwanchrisnukahsollia-party," Nathan explained, before taking a sip from his orange juice. Nick shot his best friend, who was sitting next to him and innocently eating his pasta, a nasty glare, "I can see you've been busy."

"The name is pure genius."

"That name," Nick said, "Is not up for discussion."

"But nobody will ever guess what we're referring to. We can use it practically everywhere," Jeff said. Nick just rolled his eyes, unable to dispute the validity of that point, and turned to Nathan again, "What were you saying about a program?"

"Oh, do you think we could prepare something to get them into the Kwanchrisnu... into the Christmas spirit?" Upon seeing Nick's raised eyebrow, Nathan decided to end his sentence differently. "Like, I don't know, some carols, maybe. Or a Christmassy dance routine?"

Nick just stared at him for a second, before answering, "Nathan. We have five more days to organise location, decoration, food, presents and I don't know what else because the giant to-do-list I made yesterday is still in my room. When do you plan on learning a dance routine?"

"So are you saying that we'll have no entertainment program?" Nathan asked.

"I'm saying that I'm deeply thankful to whoever invited the DVD-Player, Cluedo and Twister."

"Twister is actually way more fun when you play it with girls," Nathan said, playing thoughtfully with the fork in his hand. "Do you think..."

"No," Nick answered, "I don't think we're inviting any Crawford girls over."

"I like Twister," Jeff said, "But I'm only playing Cluedo when I can team up with somebody."

Nick grinned. Jeff was unable to maintain a decent poker face for longer than twenty seconds, an ability which had caused him great distress during many a game night at Dalton. He would just have to make sure that Jeff would be sitting next to him when they played during the party – a task that seemed frightfully easy to accomplish.

* * *

><p>"Do you know this moment when you meet distant relatives of yours, and they smile and tell you how big you've gotten, and that they can still remember when you were thiiiis little, and then they inquire how school is and whether you have found yourself a girlfriend yet, and then comes this inevitable moment in which somebody asks you: "So, Nicholas, what are your plans for the future"?"<p>

Jeff had just entered the room and hadn't even had time to put down the bag containing his trainers and jersey or his jacket before Nick had asked him that question.

He was surprised to see his roommate stretched out not on his own but on Jeff's bed, already in his pyjamas even though it was just shortly after six pm, lying flat on his stomach with his face buried deeply in Jeff's pillow. Signs of exhaustion this early in the evening usually indicated that Nick had had a pretty crappy day.

"Ahm... yeah, I guess," he replied, dropping his bag to the floor. He could always take a shower later, "Why?"

"Usually, I never know what to reply to those questions," Nick continued, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow, "I just laugh awkwardly and make up some excuse to help Mom in the kitchen. But the next time somebody asks me, I know exactly what to answer: "I don't care what I'll be in the future, as long as it's not Wedding Planner, Political Assistant or running an independent business, i.e. as long as it's got _nothing_ to do with organisation."

Jeff grinned and walked over to his bed, sitting down on the mattress next to his best friend. "So," he asked, "I take it the party is coming along great?"

Nick just groaned, propping his arm up on his elbow, rising to meet the amused glance of the blond Warbler, "Do you really have to ask that?"

"Did Nathan inform the headmaster about his plans concerning the alcoholic quality of the beverages he intends to serve?"

"I wish," Nick muttered, "Because then this thing would just get cancelled and I wouldn't have to bother with it anymore." Sighing, he leaned back on the bed. "No, we just spend close to two hours convincing Mr. Robertson and the headmaster to allow us to use the Senior Commons for our party. We had to swear that no indecent or improper behaviour would occur – and I'm pretty thankful Nathan could keep his face straight while telling so obvious a lie – that we would clean up and leave "no mark of any festive event whatsoever" behind. Seriously, I was almost expecting them to ask us to sign a contract in blood."

While Jeff was busy grinning while he pictured the headmaster asking David to cut his finger and sign with his bloody fingerprint, Nick continued, "And after they finally agreed on letting us use the Senior Commons, we went back to the library to plan, and then David and Nathan got into a fight concerning the alcohol you already mentioned, and then David lectured us for twenty minutes about the dangers of underage drinking and what it does to your body, and while he is certainly right about all that, it's just not what I want to hear after having a really long day and a terrible headache. And then Sebastian came over and asked me whether Blaine was coming too, and I said "No" even though we did ask him and Kurt to come along, but I didn't want to have to deal with him, and I find his crush on Blaine creepy and disrespectful to Kurt, but now I feel awful because I lied to him..."

"I don't think you should," Jeff answered, absentmindedly patting Nick's knee, "I seriously wouldn't put it past him to cancel his ski trip just so that he can come to the party and annoy Kurt, and _that_ would most certainly ruin our Kwanchrisnukahsollia-spirit."

The fact that Nick refrained from glaring at him for using this expression told Jeff how tired the brunette boy was feeling.

"It's not that I don't like him in general," Nick said, staring at the ceiling, "I just wished he would put his arrogant attitude aside more often, and I wished he would stop stalking Blaine."

Jeff nodded in agreement, while his fingers were trailing up and down Nick's leg in a comforting rhythm. Silence ensued between the boys; the only sounds their regular breathing, the muffled noises coming from their neighbour's dorm and the raindrops tapping against the window. After a minute, Jeff broke the comfortable silence, "So, care to tell me what's really been bothering you?"

Hazel eyes met black ones. "What do you mean?" Nick asked.

Jeff snorted, "Nick, you are not only the most organised person I know, except for Wes and Thad, that is, but you have also been blessed with the gift of never-ending patience, which is probably the secret to our relationship. We both know that it needs more than a stressful day, a difficult headmaster and a persistent stalker to upset you like this."

Nick fell silent, staring at the ceiling again while Jeff continued to caress his leg. After a few moments, Nick finally said, "My dad called. He told me that he had talked to mum, and that they decided that we are spending Christmas with her, and are supposed to come over to his place on the 26th and stay with him for two days."

"So that's this year's holiday schedule?" Jeff asked, his fingers drawing small circles around Nicks knee. The brunette boy nodded, propping himself up on his elbows and rising into a sitting position.

Jeff still remembered vividly how last year's Christmas had been for Nick. Only three months after his parents had decided to get divorced, the first Christmas without his father had been horrible. On Christmas Eve, he had called Jeff. He hadn't said anything, only listened to Jeff telling him silly stories about what his family had planned and done this year, while Jeff tried to overhear Nick's irregular breathing and occasional sobs. On the next day, he had abandoned his family and drove over to see Nick. They had visited Nick's dad, and faced the family dinner with Nick's mum, aunt and grandparents together. Jeff had stayed for the night, and only drove home the next morning, when he felt sure that Nick would be fine for the next days before he came over to Jeff's for New Year's Eve.

"It's been more than a year since they got divorced," he finally said. Nick nodded, his eyes not quite facing Jeff's gaze. "I know," he answered, his voice only the tiniest bit strained. "It's still hard, though."

"Because it's Christmas?" Jeff asked. Nick sighed, his hand coming to rest on Jeff's, tangling their fingers together. "I don't miss him when I'm here, or not even that much when I'm at home," he said quietly, while Jeff's thumb continued to caress the sensitive skin on his palm. "It's just during Christmas and birthdays, when it suddenly hits me that we're not a family any longer..."

"That's bullshit," Jeff interrupted him. "You've lived together for more than sixteen years. Yes, your parents are no longer a couple, yes, both of them moved on, but that doesn't mean you're no longer a family. It just means you're no longer the family you used to be."

Nick leaned forward, his forehead coming to rest against Jeff's shoulder. "You're right. But sometimes it just doesn't feel that way." His grip on Jeff's hand tightened only the tiniest bit. "Care to remind me of that again when I forget it?"

Jeff grinned, his nose buried in Nick's dark hair, "Always."

* * *

><p>"Presents" was the next topic on their seemingly never-ending to-do-List. While everyone agreed that there needed to be presents (after Thad's fifteen-minutes-declaration that material things were not necessary to get into the Christmas spirit, Nathan pointed out, "Come one guys, let's stop with the hypocritical crap and get real here for a second. Sure there not essential – but who doesn't love to rip open a package?"), they also agreed that they shouldn't spend too much money on them.<p>

They had briefly contemplated doing some sort of Secret Santa, but with six guys not knowing about the whole scheme it didn't seem like a smart option. Finally, they agreed on getting one single present for everyone.

First, they chose the presents for the guys they wanted to surprise: The collected works of Shakespeare for Thom, a new basketball for James, new art supplies for Luke who was constantly whining about not being able to get decent brushes in this town (Jeff and Nick had, in vain, pointed out the existence of ebay). They contemplated what to get for Blaine and Kurt: inviting them to a football game would most likely only amuse Blaine, and a ticket to a New York fashion show would only make Kurt smile brightly – not to mention that none of them had the money to afford that to begin with. Finally, they settled for tickets for the latest community-theatre-production of _Hair_, with a dinner for two at Breadsticks afterwards.

After having decided what to give to the people not present at the meeting, every Warbler had to leave the room for a few minutes, so that the others had enough time to discuss what to get him.

Nathan was the first to leave the room.

"Porn," Jeff said matter-of-factly as soon as the door had closed behind the boy.

"Definitely," Nick agreed instantly. David looked shell-shocked, "How can you even suggest such a thing as a present for one of your fellow Warblers?"

"Because... well..." Jeff and Nick looked at each other, shrugging simultaneously, "... it's Nathan."

"I don't think that would be appropriate. I think we should give him something else. Books. He likes to read. Or maybe a good movie... maybe a cartoon..." David rambled, desperate to get away from the porn idea.

As the discussion progressed, it became soon very clear that Thad was the only one sharing David's concerns.

"I know that Thom got him three books for Christmas, and that Adrian and Hugo bought the _Terminator_ and _Mission Impossible_ collector's editions for him," Nick said, "And I doubt anyone from his family will think of giving him porn."

Jeff nodded in agreement, "Come on, David, Thad. He gets enough useful stuff as it is. Let's get him something that makes him laugh when he opens the present."

It took them eight more minutes of convincing before David agreed on giving Nathan the "classy, educational" sort of porn – though only on the condition that he wouldn't be the one buying it.

He was the next one to leave the room, after Nathan had come back and stated that since they needed so terribly long to decide, he was now expecting the greatest present ever, or his disappointment would ruin the whole party.

Trent was the first one to make a suggestion for David's present, "My sister works at a copy shop, and they have a special Christmas offer for printing mugs. I thought we could get him one that says "Almost every venerable tradition at a men's club starts out as a joke." And maybe a mouse pad with that group picture we took last year after Regionals."

David looked rather confused when they called him back after merely forty seconds.

They agreed on giving Trent the new Batman game for his Computer and Adele's newest album for Thad (even though they would somehow had to smuggle it into the bag he was going to take with him to England).

After that, Nathan suddenly waved his hands dismissively at Jeff and Nick, "Out you go, both of you."

"Why _both_ of us?" Nick asked suspiciously.

"Because I have an idea and it wouldn't be fun if it was only for one of you," Nathan said, again gesturing at them, "Close the door behind you, will you?"

The two boys did as they were told, not able to stop exchanging worried looks as they were waiting in the quiet corridor.

After all, this _was_ Nathan.

* * *

><p>One of the most challenging tasks had been to organise all the different holiday decorations, but even though Nick still had trouble believing that they managed the unmanageable – they did.<p>

Nathan convinced his mother to allow him to get the box with the big "Kwanza"-label on it, Trent and David took a trip to the tree nursery of Trent's uncle and came back with tons of ivy, holly, mistletoe and an actual Christmas tree, which made the already decorated Senior Commons look like a giant squirrel had taken a fancy to it and decided to hibernate inside.

Jeff had instructed his little brother to recruit all of his friends, and the little boys and girls had spend hours at Kindergarten cutting out golden stars, moons and suns for the Saturnalia decorations.

And who cared if they looked a little skew, when they were shiny, sparkly and convinced by their sheer number alone?

* * *

><p>"What am I getting for Christmas?"<p>

Nick looked up from his copy of _The Great Gatsby_, only to glance at a very eager looking roommate in front of him, "Come again?"

"What. Am. I. Getting. For. Christmas?" Jeff repeated patiently, sitting down on the far end of Nick's bed, careful not to sit on any of Nick's notes that were spread all over his Dalton quilt.

"How would I know?" Nick replied, marking his page with a post-it. "As far as I remember, I was out in the corridor with you, so I have no freaking clue to what the guys are planning."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about my Kwanchrisnukahsollia-present," Jeff answered, pushing a few piles of papers together to allow him more space on the bed. "I want to know what I'm getting from _you_!"

Nick sighed. "Jeff, how long have we known each other?"

The blond boy thought about his answer for a few seconds before replying, "Two years, three months, eighteen days, eight hours and approximately twenty-three minutes."

"Correct," Nick continued. "Which equals two Christmas holidays together, two times we celebrated your birthday and two times you forced me to celebrate this friendship day in July you're so fond of."

"I firmly believe in providing an alternative to Valentine's Day, because that one _sucks_ when you don't have a boyfriend or a girlfriend to celebrate it with," Jeff interrupted.

Nick shook his head, "Well, then next year will be a blast for you, even though_ I_ would be fine with ignoring both of them, but anyways: the point I'm trying to make here is: during all these years of celebrating events and giving presents to one another, have your whining and persistent inquiries ever resulted in me telling you about your presents beforehand?"

"I firmly believe that one day you won't be able to resist my charm any longer," Jeff retorted, who during Nick's lecture had started folding one of Nick's papers into an airplane.

"Today is not that day," Nick retorted, snapping the sheet out of Jeff's hand. "Would you be so kind to piss off now, sweetheart? I have an essay to finish."

"You know, love," Jeff answered, eyeing Nick's bed suspiciously, "I do think that you could be infinitely more productive if you moved this chaos to your desk."

"I'm not going to question my organisation system ten hours before the deadline," Nick said, pointing towards the door. "Please go and bother Thad."

"Thad's no fun to bother," Jeff retorted, but rising nonetheless, "He always throws things at people when they annoy him. I'm going to visit Nathan and James."

He made his way over to the door, but hesitated for a second, his hand on the doorknob, "If I happen to stop by the cafeteria on my way back, you wouldn't object to a late-night-chocolate, would you?"

Nick looked up, smiling at the back of his best friend, "You know I love you, right?"

* * *

><p>"Nick, can I ask you something?"<p>

The dark-haired boy looked up from his book and spotted Thom standing next to him in front of the bookshelf, a wary expression on his face.

"Sure," he said, closing his book, "What's up, nestling?"

Thom's brow knitted in annoyance, "I wish Nathan never would have brought up that nickname."

Nick grinned, "But we're Warblers, you're the youngest, well, you were last year when you joined us, and you evoke the feeling that you still need some protection from the world, therefore the name fits you perfectly. What did you want to ask me?"

"Is it just me, or is Nathan behaving weirdly?" Thom asked.

The brunette boy raised his left eyebrow sceptically, "You mean, weirder than usual?"

Thom nodded, only the slightest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "When I asked him whether he might want to stay a day longer, so we could do something together, watch a movie maybe... he just grinned really stupidly and ruffled my hair and told me to better not make any plans for Christmas, in case Santa Claus had something special in mind for me."

Nick closed his eyes briefly in despair, cursing Nathan inwardly. As soon as this conversation was over, he would tell him something about leaving hints about a surprise party.

Thom was still looking very worried, "Do think he is planning something?"

Nick put on his best innocent smile, grateful that Thom had not yet learned to look through the facades of his fellow Warblers, "It's Nathan we're talking about. He might be planning to kidnap you, drag you to his house and force you to watch all three seasons of _Dante's Cove_ with you because he thinks gay soft porn has educational value."

In his opinion, the best way to tell a lie was still to tell a very likely truth.

Thom looked something between appalled and terrified, "You think he would?"

Nick shrugged, "It's Nathan."

The younger boy looked really uneasy now, "Could you, maybe... I mean, I know you have a lot to do right now, but could I perhaps ask you to inquire whether that's really what he's planning?"

Nick felt a tad guilty for putting Thom on edge like this, but really – this was Nathan's fault in the first place, wasn't it?

"Don't worry," he said, smiling in what he hoped was a reassuringly manner at the raven-haired boy. "I will."

Three hours and a very exhausting conversation to which he had called Thad and David for moral support later; he texted Thom: _Yep, was that porn thing. Talked him out of it._

* * *

><p>"So when are you leaving?" Trent asked. Thad looked up from the dough he was currently kneading, a bit of flour on his nose. "Tomorrow morning," he answered, "Which is why I wanted to help you guys with the food today."<p>

"And how long will you stay in England this time?" David asked, handing the plate with the cookies over to Nathan.

"Two weeks," Thad retorted, flipping the dough around and starting to work it again. "We're spending Christmas with my father's family in Bedford and New Year's Eve with my mother's family in Chippenham."

"Are we getting a postcard?" Jeff asked, peering up from the vegetables he had been mincing. Thad looked surprised, "You want a _postcard_?"

"He tends to get nostalgic when Christmas is approaching," Nick said, while reading the next instructions in the cookery book. "Usually, a simple text will do."

"I want a postcard too," David chimed in, "I'm looking forward to a week at my grandparents place and they can't stand running, shouting, laughter, the sound of music younger than one hundred years, let alone the sound of a television."

"Sounds like a lovely way to spend the holidays," Trent said while measuring a cup of milk. "I'm going to have all of my family with me. My sister and her husband are coming to visit this year, and they're bringing my niece and nephew with them."

"How old are the kids?" Thad asked.

"Theresa is three, Ethan is five years old," Trent answered. "I bought Ethan some sort of children's drums and for Theresa one of these nice little thingies that makes all sorts of annoying animal noises once you hit the colourful buttons."

"Oh dear lord, are you suicidal?" Nathan asked, his expression horrified. "You really want to spend your Christmas listening to "and the cow goes moooooo" twenty-four hours a day?"

"Oh yes," Trent answered, his eyes glittering with mischief, "Because _I _will only have to listen to it for a few days. My _sister_ will have to listen to it for the next months."

"She's going to take it away from the kids," Thad predicted. "That's what I would do."

"Then I'm still the awesome Uncle Trent who always gets them things mommy disapproves of," Trent shrugged. "I can live with that."

"I clearly underestimated you, Warbler Trent," Nathan remarked, a hint of respect visible in his voice, clearly impressed by his friends shrewdness. "I'm escaping the family madness after three or four days to head over to Dalton and kidnap Thom for New Year's Eve."

"Where are you celebrating?" Jeff asked, chewing on a piece of carrot. Nick had told the others that not half of the vegetables would make it through Jeff's mincing, but nobody had been too concerned by that warning. "With you and Nick, of course," Nathan said cheerfully. "We're going to have an awesome time together: two more-or-less-heterosexual life-partner-bondings under the same roof."

"First, you're the only heterosexual amongst us," Jeff said, biting off a piece of paprika, "and second, you and Thom are the only ones that still need bonding."

"Can you please tell Thom that you're planning a heterosexual-life-partner-bonding with him?" Nick asked sweetly. "I would love to see the expression of utter horror on his face."

"You two are just jealous because I found an awesome best friend while you two still..." Nathan's gaze travelled over the expectant faces of the blond and the brunette boy; standing next to each other, their elbows touching ever so often; two boys working in perfect sync without so much as looking at each other. "... never mind."

* * *

><p>"My mum wanted to know when you plan on coming over this year."<p>

Nick turned around to see his best friend, who had obviously just been on the phone with his mother, re-enter the room.

"Did you say hi from me?" he asked, putting the list he had been writing (about all the things they still needed to do before any sort of party could take place) away.

"Sure," Jeff said, unbuttoning his blazer and walking to his drawer to change into one of his Dalton sweaters, "She just wanted to know how long you're staying with us."

"For how long would you take me?" Nick retorted, thinking about how the holidays were going to be for him. As much as he loved being with his parents and his sister – Jeff's crazy but intact family was exactly what he was longing for right now.

"If it's up to me, you can drive home with me after school on Friday and I'll drive you back on the first day of school," Jeff answered, pulling the sweater over his head, "But I thought you wanted to spent at least a few days with your family before you realise you can't breathe, let alone live without me being nearby and come running into the open arms of your..."

"This is undoubtedly what will happen," Nick replied dryly and turned around again to face the list one more time. "But I thought maybe this year I could try to endure your painful absence for a little while and come over three days before New Year's Eve and stay... I dunno, five days?"

He more felt than saw Jeff walking up behind him, resting his arms on the armrest of Nick's chair. "Sounds perfect to me," he answered, peering over the brunette's shoulder. "What are you writing?"

"All the things we still need to do before the big day," Nick answered, sighing and eyeing the list in front of him. "Still awfully long, don't you think?"

"I think you're obsessing over this stuff," Jeff said, resting his chin on Nick's dark hair. "I think you need to stop thinking about all that can possibly go wrong, both with this party _and_ with this year's Christmas."

Nick leaned back, letting the back of his head rest against the soft material of Jeff's sweater, feeling the other boy's chest fall and rise with every breath he took.

"It makes me feel better, you know?" he said. "When I'm thinking about the party, I don't have to think about..."

"I know," Jeff said, reaching out and taking the list out of his best friend's fingers. "But you're stressing yourself over both, and you need to stop that. It's Christmas in a few days, we're going to have an awesome Kwanchrisnukahsollia-party with the guys and a legendary New Year's Eve at my place."

He crumbled the list in his fist and threw it into the bin.

"And now we stop talking about this," he added. "We're going out for coffee now, and I'm going to tell you all about the awesome sing-off in the shower after yesterday's soccer practice you did not witness, and after that we're going to kidnap Thom and drag him to a round of Twister with Nathan and Trent, and after that we can talk about preparing the party for no longer than twenty minutes before we go to bed."

Nick sighed, spinning around in his chair, unable to _not_ smile at his best friend, "Do I have I choice?"

Jeff grinned, throwing Nick's coat into his lap, "Of course not. One would think you figured out how this relationship works by now."

* * *

><p>"<em>Nick!"<em>

The brunette sighed and turned around to face a frantic looking David, "Yes, David?"

"Were should we put those plates? There is no space left on the tables, and we still have the desert and not enough space to put it anywhere..."

"David, David, David calm down," Nick said, "Did you bring in the other table?"

David stared at him blankly, "_What_ other table?"

"The table which I told Nathan to bring in here half an hour ago and which is apparently still outside in the corridor..."

"_NATHAN!"_ David yelled, turning around and storming off in the direction of the kitchen.

"Well, isn't it nice to see how everybody is in the Christmas spirit already?"

Nick grinned at the voice of a much missed countertenor and looked over his shoulder to where Jeff, Blaine and Kurt were busy piling the presents under the enormous Christmas tree. When he walked over to help them, Jeff frowned at Kurt, asking "Don't tell me your Christmas is completely without yelling?"

Kurt shook his head, adjusting the velvet ribbon around one of the packages, "When I was a child, my parents never yelled at me. Or at one another. And later, when it was just my dad and me, we always had very quiet Christmas celebrations." He smiled at the symmetrical bow and put the package down. "Things have become a little bit louder since Carole and Finn moved in with us, but we still don't yell at each other."

Blaine smiled fondly at his boyfriend, "I do remember some shouting the last time I was over."

"That yelling was completely justified," Kurt said defensively. Nick and Jeff grinned at each other – Kurt's tone was a pretty good indication on who had been responsible for the yelling, "He put his football-clothes in the freezer, Blaine."

"Because Puck told him it would diminish the smell."

"Blaine, he put his dirty, sweaty, smelly football uniform on the pizza we planned to eat during our Project-Runway-Marathon."

Blaine looked torn, "But we got Chinese food instead. That was alright too, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but that isn't the point. It's a matter of principle."

Jeff grinned at Nick, nudging his shoulder gently, "Just in case you're worried about your holidays: I'm afraid my family does a lot of yelling too, but at least I can promise that our pizza will be safe."

"_They're coming_!" David hissed, dropping down two bowls with mousse au chocolate on the additional table. "_Quick_!"

Jeff rolled his eyes, "I think he's slowly turning into Thad."

"Or Wes," Nathan added, who was bringing two plates of cake into the room, "I swear, under pressure they all sound very much alike."

"That's what being in the council does to you," Blaine nodded, reaching for Kurt's hand and pulling his boyfriend up from his sitting position.

They heard footsteps and noises coming from the hallway, and John saying "Yeah, because ordering us all here is not suspicious at all...". Nick saw David eyeing the room frantically, desperately trying to spot whether they forgot anything. Even if they had, Nick thought as he looked around the colourfully decorated room with all the food and the presents, they had still accomplished their mission.

When the six boys came into the room, Nick realised that there really was something about the Christmas spirit, or rather the Kwanchrisnukahsollia spirit that remained untouched by age, religion or experience. When he saw the boys staring in bewilderment at the tree, the decorations and the food, and David started to scold them for being too early and not wiping their shoes, Nick quickly busied himself with rearranging the presents under the tree.

Not that any of them needed to be organised, but it was a good excuse to hide his dopey grin behind a big package, which – as he knew – contained an illustrated copy of the Kama Sutra for Nathan.

* * *

><p>"How long did you guys prepare all this?" Thom asked, his voice still betraying his befuddlement. "A few days," Trent answered, grinning in pure delight because their surprise party had been such a success. Nick couldn't blame him – he knew that he probably still had a similar expression on his face.<p>

"This is so awesome," Cody exclaimed, happily biting into a pastry, "I mean, I understand why you did it for your fellow Warblers, but that you also did it for us..."

"Don't let it get to your head, kiddo," Nathan said, flopping down between Thom and Trent, propping his feet up on the table in front of him and balancing his plate on his knees, "That still doesn't mean you're part of the cool kids now."

"I think I'm leaving," Thom said, rising from his seat, "Because your ego is starting to take up too much space."

Nathan just laughed and grabbed Thom around the waist to pull him back down again. Nick still thought it was funny to see all the guys out of their uniforms: Blaine was proudly wearing a new bowtie that Kurt had gotten him a week ago, Trent sported a black shirt with a picture of Toad on it which was labelled "Get a life", and David's sweater had a hideous reindeer pattern on it; but he insisted that is was the most comfortable sweater he owned and that he could only wear it around Christmas time.

"Anyways, you're insane," Blaine remarked, smiling fondly at Nick and Jeff, "Putting all this together in only a few days..."

"It was worth it," Jeff answered, grabbing Nick's plate to eat the leftover green paprika Nick detested. "Wasn't it?" he asked when Nick remained silent, nudging his best friend's shoulder gently. Nick sighed in defeat, "It was." "And who was it that told you everything would be alright from the very beginning?" Jeff asked, picking up another piece of paprika. "That would be you," Nick admitted. "And who should therefore be named most awesome Warbler of the year?" Nick glared at the blond boy, "Don't push your luck."

"Yeah, and as long as I'm a Warbler, that title is taken," Nathan interrupted, putting his plate down on the table, before turning to Thom, "You drink Earl Grey as usual?"

The raven-haired boy looked up, looking confused but nodding nonetheless. "Good, I'll bring you a cup," Nathan announced, patting Thom's knee briefly before getting up and heading over to where David had ordered the drinks to be lined up. The younger Warbler looked after Nathan, the slightest blush visible on his cheeks, which made Nick and Kurt exchange a meaningful glance.

"Don't tell me you're falling for your best friend, Thom," Kurt said, sipping on his diet coke.

Thom just rolled his eyes and replied in a tone that sounded only a tad too indifferent, "Of course I'm not. Falling for your best friend is a myth that only occurs in romantic comedies of the worst kind. I mean, really, who does that in real life?"

Nick and Kurt looked at each other for only a split second before bursting into laughter.

* * *

><p>Before any of the guys had the chance to open their presents, David insisted that they would look into the giant basket Thad had left for them, which was labelled:<p>

"_Merry Christmas/ Hanukkah/Solstice/Kwanza/Saturnalia to all of you! _

_Warble on guys. Thad."_

Ten minutes later, Nick took a picture of eleven guys happily consuming the most delicious cupcakes any of them had ever tasted, and sent it to Thad, accompanied by a text saying "Merry Christmas, Brit-boy. Hope you enjoy your holiday on that island. We love you! P.S. Tell your Mom thank you. She's the best cook ever."

* * *

><p>"Okay, after all that fuss you made about our presents, I'm really curious to see what you got us," Jeff said, eyeing the pile of presents with an eager expression on his face.<p>

"Honestly, I feel more terrified than curious," Nick said. Nathan, sitting next to an overjoyed Thom who was happily browsing through his volume of Shakespeare, grinned at them, "It wasn't actually easy to decide what to get you guys. We had _so_ many ideas concerning embarrassing presents."

"Okay, that's it, I'm not opening mine," Nick said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Who knows what's in there."

"But I really want to know," Jeff whined.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Jeff," Nick retorted.

Nathan just sighed and stood up, reached down and threw two medium-sized packages into their arms, "Just open them. I swear they don't bite."

Nick closed his fingers around the package, which was rather light and soft. He removed the ribbon carefully and peeled the colourful wrapping paper away to reveal...

"That is _awesome_!" Jeff exclaimed, taking the black hoodie out of the wrapping paper and holding it up in front of him. Nick saw that the print on the front was the same as on his sweater: A tiny yellow bird that was sitting on white letters which spelled **MY OTHER HALF**. The only difference was that while the canary on his sweater was pointing to the right, Jeff's was pointing to the left.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said, looking up to see a grinning Nathan eyeing him amusedly, while Jeff pulled the hoodie over his head, "You got us _matching_ sweaters?"

"We sure did," Nathan nodded. "I originally opted for **MEANT FOR EACH OTHER**, and Trent suggested **LOVE OF MY LIFE**, but Thad convinced us that it might be better to take a more subtle caption."

Nick felt very much like hugging Thad as his fingertips brushed over the image of the tiny bird who was sitting on the letter O, "Who designed those?"

"Trent's sister," Nathan answered. "She also got us a discount at the copy-shop."

"Nick, try it on," Jeff said, tugging at his new sweater that was only the tiniest bit too big for him. "They're awesome_ and_ comfy!"

Nick couldn't help but grin at Jeff's delight. He pulled the sweater over his head, tugging on the soft fabric until it fit right. When he looked up, he saw Jeff frowning at him. "What?"

"We need to switch places," Jeff said, standing up. "When we're sitting like this the canaries are pointing away from each other. And that's just sad." Nick shook his head, but moved over to Jeff's seat, "Does that mean when we're wearing those, I'm only allowed to stand or sit on your left?"

"Of course it does," Jeff answered, "Otherwise these don't make any sense."

Nick looked over to Nathan, a sincere smile on his face, "Thanks Nathan."

"You're welcome honey," Nathan said, winking at the brunette boy. "Of course you can pay me back by showing me which of these packages is for me."

"The blue one with the yellow ribbon around it," Jeff retorted, tugging on his sleeve. "But I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to open it when Thom is sitting next to you."

The raven-haired boy glanced up from his _Hamlet_, asking, "Should I leave the room, or just the couch?"

"Just the couch will be sufficient," Nick said, while a delighted squeal from behind him told him that Kurt had just opened Blaine's and his present. Nathan stood up to get his present while Thom came to sit next to Nick, within a safe distance of Nathan.

"Now I'm really curious," Nathan said, holding his present to his ear and shaking it tentatively.

Jeff grinned, propped his legs up on the armrest and leaned against Nick's shoulder, "Just promise me you'll show it to David and make sure to thank him properly. It was his idea."

* * *

><p>John and Luke, the two twins from Germany, insisted on watching a movie called <em>Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel<em>, a title Nick had problems pronouncing and which was apparently a take on the Cinderella story.

"You're watching _fairytales_ on Christmas?" Jeff asked who had squeezed himself in between Kurt and Nick and was now trying to reach the popcorn bowl without entangling himself from the two boys. Nick could have helped him, but it was simply too much fun to watch.

"Oh _yes_," John answered, while shoving the disc into the player. "I swear, whenever you turn the telly on in Germany during the holidays, at least one channel is showing this movie. And five others are showing other fairytales."

The movie didn't have any subtitles or language options, but that was alright: the plot was pretty obvious, and John and Luke translated the most hideous dialogues for them to laugh at.

During the next two hours, Trent, Thom and David watched with tear-filled eyes how the smart girl managed to get the rather stupid prince, while Nick, Nathan, Jeff, Kurt and Blaine discussed how much in denial the prince's two friends were and what the point for them dancing with girls at the ball was, when they were obviously meant for each other, until Trent threw a pillow at them and hissed that they were spoiling the mood.

Nick took a mental note to never watch _Titanic_ with Trent.

* * *

><p>Holiday traditions turned out to be a lot of fun – especially the custom closely connected to the mistletoe. Kurt and Blaine had been the first two to be caught standing under it, and Nick had the suspicion that one or both of them had taken fancy to it – he spotted them three more times sharing secret kisses in that doorway without anyone forcing them to.<p>

Nathan and Luke had been funny – Nathan had just shrugged, pecked Luke on the cheek and called the others immature for making such a big deal out of it, it was only a kiss and after all, they were old enough not to giggle at something like this, weren't they?

Luke had been beet red for at least half an hour, which of course had led to more teasing.

When David pointed out that Trent and Jeff were standing under the dreaded piece of holly, they had just blinked at each other for a moment before walking away in mutual agreement.

Because – no. Just no.

Personal boundaries had to be respected – which was why neither _Spin the Bottle_ nor _Truth or Dare_ had ever been popular among the boys. Things like that just always led to embarrassing moments later, and the boys liked their group dynamic as it was, thank you very much.

Even though Nick kind of regretted that Thad couldn't be there with them– the council member gave very funny speeches on the uselessness of some holiday traditions and the crucial importance of others. Depending on whether said custom forced him to kiss a teammate or not.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you guys talked me into this <em>again<em>," Blaine mumbled; his voice muffled since his face was buried in the thick material of Nick's sweater.

"If it's any comfort to you, I can't exactly say I'm comfy either," Nick answered, adjusting his elbow so that it was resting against Jeff's leg.

"I don't get why you even try to act reluctant every time we ask you," Jeff's voice came from somewhere beneath Nick's shoulder. "We all know you love this."

"We used to play this every evening, remember?" Trent chimed in, his voice sounding a little strained.

"We did," Blaine agreed, trying to move his hand just a little to the right, "But not in front of my boyfriend who is presumably totally judging me right now."

Nick craned his neck to look at Kurt. The countertenor was sitting next to David, who had his eyes on the dart and just announced "Right foot yellow." From what Nick could see, Kurt's expression was anything but judgemental: the look on his face as his gaze travelled over his boyfriend's stretched body was definitely admiring, mixed with only the tiniest hint of excitement.

"I don't think you need to worry," Nick said, stretching his leg to reach the yellow spot on the carpet. "Even if you lose at this – I have a feeling that your efforts will pay off tonight. One way or another."

* * *

><p>It had been stressful, Nick thought when he looked over the room, but it had been totally worth it.<p>

He took in the sight of David trying to escape Nathan, who insisted on reading passages from his Christmas present to the indignant council leader, and Thom, who was still clutching his Shakespeare and watched the two guys with a shy but happy smile.

He looked at Luke and John who were animatedly chatting with Trent about comic books. It was the first time he had seen the twins at ease like this, and he guessed that it had to do with how Trent had invited the twins over to celebrate New Year's Eve with him and his family half an hour earlier.

He grinned at Cody and Peter who were passing by him to get their third desert because "That stuff is simply _delicious_, dude!"

He thought about the text Thad had just sent him, saying "_David told me to tell you to tell Nathan to stop pestering him. Sounds like you're having an awesome time. Even though I'm back in the most awesome country on earth – I miss you guys_."

He glanced at Blaine and Kurt, who, even though they weren't at Dalton any more, would never stop being Warblers. They were listening to Jeff, who was telling the story about his very first Warbler-snowball-fight to Kurt, their fingers entangled and exchanging glances or smiles every once in a while. He also felt Jeff's shoulder pressing against his own, warmth radiating from the blond Warbler while he described in great detail how Wes had looked after Nathan's first snowball had hit him in the face.

And when he was looking over the room, taking in the boys laughing and teasing each other, handing out meaningful and meaningless presents, devouring troubling amounts of candy and some of them already planning next year's Christmas party, he didn't feel worried any longer.

No matter how Christmas with his family would be, no matter how drunk Nathan would get during their New Year's Eve party and how many of Jeff's cousins he would hit on, no matter what the new year would bring – right now, he was with his family. His _second_ family.

And he had a feeling that whatever the future would hold, this was something he could always rely on.

* * *

><p><em>AN: First of all: Thank you for reading this.__This story was a Christmas present for my best friend, but since it sort of picks up where my other story (JTIB) ended, I didn't want to upload it before I finished that story. Presumably nobody is in the Christmas spirit anymore, but I didn't want to wait nine more months to put it up here either._

_Maybe some of you noticed, but I was heavily inspired by the glorious Christmas episode from the cartoon series _The Weekenders_ (which I will never stop loving). In the episode, they all have to combine their different holidays to find a weekend on which they can all celebrate Christmas together. That's what I missed in last year's glee episode. Of course you don't have to put the focus on different religions and traditions – but if you're going to mention it anyways, why not embrace the cultural variety you have, glee?_

_Also, I have to apologize in advance for any cultural mistakes I made in here. Unfortunately, I'm not very well informed on the details of different December celebrations. I did a few hours of internet research, but I am very skeptical when it comes to wikipedia information. So if there are any mistakes – my apologies, and please let me know so that I can correct them. And the German-Christmas-Fairytale-Mafia? It's out there guys.  
><em>

_**I'm thinking about doing a multi-chaptered Niff/Warblers/Klaine-Sequel to this story, and I would really need a beta reader for this one. Preferably a native speaker to correct the word choice and word order mistakes I tend to make all the time. So if anybody would be interested in helping me there, please let me know and I'd be forever grateful!**  
><em>

_Thank you for reading, and I would be very happy if you told me what you thought about that story. =D  
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_~ Nalasan  
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